Oley's game plan wasn't too different from what it had been doing all season as it won its first-ever District 3-AAA championship.

"Tamaqua was 28-0 and we knew they don't play that speed all season long," Clark said. "(For Zehner) our strategy was for the girls to keep it close. We heard she tries to take over games in the second half and we wanted to deny her the ball until the fourth quarter.

"If she beats us then, she beats us. She's a great player."

Zehner, a Bucknell recruit who was averaging just over 22 points a game, was held to 14 points.

Forced to take several contested shots, she was an uncharacteristic 5-of-17 from the field.

In the key third quarter, Zehner scored the Blue Raiders' lone point as the Lynx (25-4) built a 33-28 lead.

"We did a box-and-one and that seemed to frustrate her," said Krott, who helped shut down the lane to the basket. "She's their key player and we didn't want her to score."

Tamaqua was forced to take several outside shots and Cassie Eroh's 3-point shots kept Tamaqua on pace.

"They had us off-balance all game," Tamaqua coach Joe Berezwick said. "We didn't want to go in that flow, but they made us force a lot of things.

"(Oley) is a fantastic team."

The District 11-AAA champs were far from done going into the final period, but the Lynx were able to provide an answer every time.

Zehner opened the fourth quarter with a drive-in basket that narrowed the margin to 33-30, but Clark came back with a 3-pointer.

A driving layup by Tamaqua's Maria Streisel with 3:20 left made it 41-38, but Krott came back with her own layup on the ensuing possession.

From that point, free throws by Vallely and Clark kept the Lynx up by at least two scores.

"We played great as a team and we made those foul shots," Krott said. "We kept pushing and it seemed we made everything."

Oley Valley was 10-of-11 from the free-throw line for the game.

Earlier, both teams had trouble finding a rhythm as the Blue Raiders and Lynx combined for 29 turnovers in the first half.

While Tamaqua couldn't convert on the inside, it was able to return the favor on Oley as Zehner blocked four shots.